Threshold review: put in the shift and you shall be… rewarded

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Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Critical Reflex

• Developer: Julien Eveillé
• Publisher: Critical Reflex
• Release: November 19th, 2024
• On: Windows
• From: Steam
• Price: TBC
• Reviewed on: Intel Core i7-12700F, Nvidia RTX 3080, 16GB RAM, Windows 11

My time with Threshold has been fraught with pain. Five times. Five times I had to restart this psychological horror game because of some game-breaking bug. And yet, I persevered, booting it back up and returning to my government-mandated shift atop a quiet mountain.

Ultimately, I gave Threshold chance after chance because I was totally taken by my shift and my immense desire to find out just what I was actually doing. Anyway, it’s time for me to clock off! I urge you to take over until I’m back. It’s worth it.

Much in the same vein as my Mouthwashing review , I’ll preface this one with a simple message that I’ll now deliver to you via an imaginary printer embedded in a grey, dingy wall. There’s a leaf of paper that judders out of it, with a “zzt, zzt, zzt”. A speaker in one corner of the room crackles to life and catches you off guard. It says, “I will refrain from talking about the story, because that would ruin things for you. Sign the agreement first and you may read ahead.”

Running and jumping use more oxygen, so you’ll need to bear this in mind when moving around the border post. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Critical Reflex

Threshold’s story is told through a first-person perspective and begins in a small locker room. You’re instructed by a mysterious buzz from a speaker to collect your papers and to get to work. Mo’s shift has finished and you’re to take over from him. So you step into an elevator and it rises upwards with a rather haunting clang clang clang. All you know so far: 1) you can look around and click on highlighted objects, 2) you can cycle through your items with a scroll of the mouse wheel. Ominously, an oxygen metre poking out from the floor dips lower and lower as the elevator whirls upwards.

Eventually you’re deposited at the top of a mountain and Mo says hello. He doesn’t speak, though, instead hastily writing words on sheets of paper and handing them to you one by one. Oxygen levels are low, he says, hence preservation of every breath is crucial to working efficiently. Afterwards, he introduces you to the border post and your job within it…

A big freight train rumbles past and a row of lights sit above it. Your job is to keep the train running at the “expected pace”, which is very important, as it keeps the water level of the nearby stream running smoothly. If the train drops below the expected pace, the siren will sound and the lights will indicate what pace you need to hit. He hands you a whistle made of ivory, which is, weirdly, cold to the touch. You’re to stand at a little speaker opposite the train and blow this whistle into it, which commands the train to speed up with an ominous “thhhnnnggg” as the speaker’s back flap rises and clatters back into place.

The thing is, you’ve just forced a load of air out of your lungs and you’re now on the brink of death - oh. Mo remains calm and hands you an air capsule shaped like a tube. You’re to bite down on it to inhale some sweet, sweet O2. What he doesn’t tell you is the tube is made of fragile glass and it shatters in your mouth, causing you to hack blood onto the dirt below. “We get used to it,” he says.

Right at the start of the game you can choose between two difficulty levels. One provides minimal assistance (less “Oh I think I should check this out” thoughts) and the other, more helpful thoughts more regularly. I opted for minimal and found it was mostly fine, as the border post is small and rummaging often leads to fairly clear cues. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Critical Reflex

Next, he shows you where to grab tickets and how to redeem them at a little outbuilding. Pop the tickets in the machine and it’ll spit out air capsules, but only when the train is running at the expected pace. He then leaves you to keep the train running, confident in your abilities. He doesn’t mention building two, which you walked past earlier and is conspicuously locked. He doesn’t mention the suspicious mound of dirt next to the ticket machine. Or the blood stains behind the big box. He doesn’t mention what’s in the train.

From here on out, Threshold is a semi-linear story in the sense that you discover things (horrors) about the bitesize border post as you explore. And depending on what you discover and how you interact with these things, you’ll fulfil certain conditions that mean you’ll trigger the next bit of the story, and so on. I’ve only discovered one ending and I’m told that there’s a true one and a bad one, too.

Again, I have to remain tightlipped here, but I find Threshold’s little border post universe weirdly believable. It’s comical, the way you take over from Mo without question and tend to a train by blowing into a whistle as your lungs verge on collapse. And it’s compelling, in the way you’re sucked into the rhythm of your work and the balance you must strike between haste and managing your oxygen levels - I can’t tell you how absorbed I was in my silly, stressful little job.

Getting your job wrong means running out of air, though, and if that happens: you’ll die. Keel over and you’ll need to restart your shift from scratch, but if you’ve secured a rare checkpoint you can start from around midway through the game. Although if you do re-load from a checkpoint, it can be difficult to know exactly where you’re at when it comes to the conditions you’ve fulfilled previously and what you’re meant to do next.

It’s all presented with these blocky PSX visuals, which grants the border post an unsettling atmosphere. And the lack of music means you’re forever focused on the sounds of the train and the siren and the general rhythm of your work. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Critical Reflex

Still, the oxygen grind isn’t like your typical survival game nonsense, so it’s rarely frustrating. And the monotony of your routine doesn’t get boring, in the sense that as you discover objects and how they might interact with things, your routine might ‘change’, both in terms of the story and things-you’re-doing-wise. And these changes were more than interesting enough to help me march through at least five restarted playthroughs. I was desperate to know how things shook out (I’m sure by release they’ve ironed out the bugs that plagued me).

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Threshold

PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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